Was Big Smoke actually a villain — or just another victim of C.R.A.S.H.?

While most players see Big Smoke as a power-hungry traitor, a community of myth hunters argues he was intimidated and trapped by Tenpenny's corruption. Their evidence comes from The Introduction cutscene where Tenpenny pressures Smoke over the phone to abandon gang loyalty for money. Theorists claim Smoke only hired the Ballas to kill Sweet because he couldn't bring himself to do it personally after their childhood bond — making him a reluctant conspirator rather than a mastermind.

Source: Big Smoke's Alliance — CC BY-SA